Posted by: Rod Kurtz on January 23, 2009

If you’re a small-business owner who has spent money to drive traffic to your Web site, you can’t afford to ignore those who actually visit. Luckily, online marketing has effectively eliminated the old adage that “50% of a marketing spend goes wasted,” with campaigns that are highly visible, trackable, and convertible. Today, each click is carefully catalogued and calculated to maximize each dollar spent and search term purchased.

But getting traffic to your site is only half the battle. What happens after the click?

The truth is, even in today’s climate of trackability and accountability, 98% of Web site visitors go unconverted. In other words, they visit your site, but they don’t take any immediate action. Savvy marketers know that what happens after the click is where small businesses can strike gold. They know that in order to quickly capitalize on your Web traffic, you need understand who is visiting your site and what they are interested in.

So, how do you capitalize on this silent majority of Web visitors? Look for cost-effective software options that can help you identify your site’s visitors. Get to know your visitors: Who they are, what they are looking for when visiting your site, and what landed them there.

Then reach out to them and convert them into customers.

Chris Golec
Founder and CEO
Demandbase
San Francisco

Reader Comments

Rene Kriest / Depressionsblog.com

January 27, 2009 8:29 AM

Excellent article.

To me the key to online success is to experiment with ads. Blend your aim to earn (not to confuse with the term "make") money with experience.

The best ad results came from altering and testing the configuration not by suggesting and hoping for the better. There is no something for nothing. Even in the ad world.

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